Google Is Increasingly Taking the Reins in Managing Campaigns for Advertisers

Boosting its appeal beyond the reams of consumer data and stranglehold on search that make its digital advertising business the most expansive in the world, Google is increasingly executing campaigns for advertisers, deploying both automation and its own ad experts to get the job done.

One example of this is Google’s success in snatching mobile advertisers away from Facebook via Universal App Campaigns, which use creative “building blocks” provided by advertisers to develop effective ads across the fragmented digital media ecosystem. Another, Search Engine Land reported this week, appears to be an opt-out shift in strategy whereby Google’s “ad experts” will start making changes to advertisers’ campaigns unless advertisers explicitly urge Google not to do so.

The changes made by Google’s in-house experts will affect search advertising staples such as ad text, keywords, and bids. It’s potentially good news for advertisers, who will benefit from Google’s top-notch technological infrastructure, but it further highlights the search giant’s ability to apply pressure to ad tech firms and agencies, who must continually redefine the incremental value they can offer clients at a time of increasing automation and big-tech dominance.

Joe Zappa is the Managing Editor of Street Fight. He joined Street Fight as a contributing writer in 2015, has compiled the daily newsletter since 2016, and has spearheaded the newsroom's editorial operations since 2018. Follow him on Twitter @joe_zappa, and shoot him an email at jzappa@streetfightmag.com.